If anyone were to ask her when she first realized she had feelings for Lin Yiyang, it was undoubtedly this day, in this small pool room.
Amidst the noisy clamor, she put her phone down, only to find herself unable to resist picking it up again. She repeated this cycle over and over, unable to suppress the urge to read his message one more time. And after reading it, she wanted to read it again.
She seemed to discern a deeper meaning in his words, yet she feared she was merely overthinking things.
***
Lin Yiyang was on the train back to Washington, D.C.
Leaning back in his seat, he stared at the luggage rack above his head. He realized that his feelings for Yin Guo had evolved beyond a simple desire to get to know her or understand her. From the moment he stepped out of that pool room, he had been thinking about going back for just a few minutes, just to say a few more words to her. For instance, he wanted to tell her that the fried chicken place by the entrance wasn't bad and ask if she wanted to try it.
He was amused by his own lack of imagination.
Perhaps it was because he had been too poor as a child—so poor that he lacked any sense of romantic sentiment, so poor that even now, he felt that eating was the greatest happiness in the world. Being able to eat his fill, and to do so with variety, had been his childhood dream.
He turned his head, looking at his reflection in the train window. He ran his fingers through his messy hair, inspecting his face. Though he was no longer in his teens, he still looked decent enough.
In an era where information was so advanced and communication so convenient—a time when people could easily fall into any kind of relationship—he, Lin Yiyang, had fallen for a girl, yet he was hesitating, not even daring to ask if she had a boyfriend. Wasn't it ridiculous?
It wasn't that he didn't want to ask; it was because he cared so much that he was being cautious. He was...
Afraid of getting the wrong answer.
A WeChat notification chimed, snapping him back to reality.
He had set everyone in his contacts to "Do Not Disturb," except for Yin Guo. So, whenever his phone chimed, it was definitely her.
Yin Guo had sent a screenshot of a restaurant's location. It was near the Brooklyn Bridge, not far from the famous Instagram-worthy carousel.
Red Fish: *Have you been to this place?*
He went to Brooklyn often, but he truly hadn't tried this one.
Lin: *No. Do you want to go?*
Red Fish: *Next time you’re back, it’s my treat. My best friend loves pasta and has scouted many places; she says the lobster pasta here is the best. Don’t refuse, and definitely don’t say you’ll pay. Friends should have a bit of give and take.*
The train happened to pull into a small station.
People got off, others got on. Lin Yiyang leaned alone against the window in the first row. He tucked his left arm behind his head as a cushion, his eyes reflecting the words on the screen. He smiled.
Slowly, he typed out a line.
Lin: *OK.*
***
She put her phone away.
*Stay calm,* she told herself. *It’s just to return the favor.*
That evening, Yin Guo used a roundabout excuse that wouldn't be easily seen through to reconfirm the restaurant's address with her friend. The two of them opened a review app, scrolled through the menu, picked out several dishes, and even settled on the red wine.
She noted everything down in her memos, simply waiting for Lin Yiyang’s return.
The Open was drawing closer by the day.
Yin Guo adjusted her training schedule, shifting from a concentrated four-hour afternoon session to a daily six-hour intensive routine—three hours in the morning and three in the afternoon. Knowing she had a tournament coming up, Meng Xiaotian didn't dare disturb her. He made plans with some new friends and headed to the West Coast on Wednesday, saying he’d be back in two weeks.
Friday night arrived.
She finished her training at the pool room around seven, bought a bowl of Spanish paella from a roadside shop, finished it by eight, and returned to the apartment.
As she pulled out her keys to open the door, she heard laughter coming from inside. It sounded like more than one person was there—likely Wu Wei’s friends. She didn't think much of it and unlocked the door.
However, as she stepped inside, she suddenly froze, looking in surprise at the man sitting on the brown sofa.
On the sofa, Jiang Yang was holding a cup of freshly brewed coffee. He was halfway through a sip when he saw the door open and naturally looked over. Into his line of sight came Yin Guo, dressed in a white parka and carrying her cue case.
He quickly searched his memory for the girl's identity and found the situation quite incredible.
Fan Wencong had been hunched over looking for snacks, but he looked up when he heard the door. He didn't recognize her.
Yin Guo gave a stiff smile and nodded to Jiang Yang. "Hello."
Jiang Yang hadn't quite figured out why Yin Guo was here, but he smiled politely. "Hello."
Under the gaze of the two grown men, Yin Guo nodded amiably and retreated into her room.
Fan Wencong looked at Jiang Yang in confusion for confirmation. Jiang Yang smiled. "That's Meng Xiaodong's younger sister."
Meng Xiaodong's sister? Fan Wencong felt like he had stepped into a parallel universe.
The bathroom door opened. Wu Wei had heard Yin Guo return and rushed out shirtless. He didn't see Yin Guo, but instead found himself being stared down by the two men.
"Care to explain?" Jiang Yang gestured with his chin toward Yin Guo’s door. "How do you know her? And why are you living together?"
"It’s got nothing to do with me," Wu Wei said, pulling on a short-sleeved shirt and sitting down next to Jiang Yang. He lowered his voice. "She’s the one Duncuo is after."
The two men’s worldviews were overturned once again.
"Is it serious or just a fling?" Jiang Yang glanced at the closed door, inquiring about the relationship between Yin Guo and Lin Yiyang.
"Are you kidding? Could it be anything but serious?" Wu Wei was full of confidence in Lin Yiyang. "Have you ever seen our Master Yang chicken out?"
Jiang Yang smiled. It was hard to say. Judging by the way Lin Yiyang had mentioned the girl at the pool room the other day, he was clearly the one who had fallen first. At the time, Jiang Yang had wondered who this "sacred being" was. He never expected—truly never expected—it to be Yin Guo.
It was a case of "enemies meeting on a narrow path"—a fate that couldn't be avoided.
Years ago, when Lin Yiyang first debuted, he played three consecutive professional seasons. During those three years, the top contenders for the titles were Jiang Yang, Meng Xiaodong, and Lin Yiyang. The three of them were evenly matched in skill, and none of them would yield to the others. The gold, silver, and bronze medals rotated among them; each took a championship once. In terms of overall performance, Lin Yiyang had been the best at the time, with one championship and two runner-up finishes.
Jiang Yang was a rational person. To him, winning or losing was normal. Since the three of them were so close in skill, it all came down to performance on the day and a bit of luck. Winning didn't mean you'd always win, and losing didn't mean you'd always lose. But for Meng Xiaodong, the results were incredibly frustrating. His family ran a billiards club—how could he lose to a dark horse like Lin Yiyang who had appeared out of nowhere?
The two of them had competed fiercely for three years. If Lin Yiyang hadn't suddenly quit the club, they would likely still be locked in battle today.
Jiang Yang glanced at the closed door again.
*Little Junior Brother, you certainly know how to pick them.*
Inside the room, Yin Guo was utterly bewildered.
*Isn't Jiang Yang a snooker player? Why is he here for a nine-ball tournament?*
She sat in the middle of her warm brown bed, opening her laptop while listening intently to the movement outside. She planned to wait until the guests left before going out.
Time ticked by until eight-thirty. It seemed the outside had been quiet for half an hour.
She stepped off the bed barefoot and pressed her ear to the door. Confirming her suspicion, she pulled the door open.
To her shock, the living room was packed—even more people than before.
Everyone from Dongxincheng who had come for the Open was there. The reason it had been quiet was that Fan Wencong had warned everyone outside that an "important person" was sleeping and no one was allowed to make a sound. Consequently, everyone was sitting orderly on the sofa, playing silent video games. Wu Wei had brought out a set of Chinese chess, and they were all huddled around it.
Bored, Wu Wei was playing checkers with Fan Wencong.
Chen An'an, the team leader—who had now switched to nine-ball and was essentially a teacher to these kids—had just walked in. He was warming his hands by the heater and speaking softly with Jiang Yang.
In short, the living room was a large-scale entertainment scene, but on mute.
When Yin Guo suddenly opened the door, it turned into a mass observation event.
A familiar figure appeared from the opposite room. Lin Yiyang was carrying a set of clean sportswear in his right hand. He looked travel-worn and drowsy. He had intended to take a quick shower to refresh himself while Yin Guo was sleeping, but seeing her there, his footsteps faltered. Yin Guo looked at him from across the room, desperately trying to remember what day of the week it was.
One stood at the eastern doorway, the other held the western door. Between them was a living room full of people, all silent, with varying expressions. The older generation exchanged looks, enjoying the show, while the younger ones were mostly curious.
In the silent room, Lin Yiyang spoke to Yin Guo: "I'm going to take a shower."
Yin Guo nodded unconsciously under everyone's gaze.
As Lin Yiyang entered the bathroom, she was still thinking—*Didn't he say he wasn't coming back this week?*
Wu Wei suddenly chuckled and asked Jiang Yang if they should order takeout. He was actually trying to smooth things over for Yin Guo; if she continued to be stared at like this, the poor girl would probably crawl back into her room and refuse to come out again.
Jiang Yang leaned his hands on the counter and agreed, "Xiao Fan, you order."
Fan Wencong caught the hint. "On it."
Once the seniors spoke, the atmosphere among the juniors livened up.
The noisy living room, with everyone doing their own thing, gave Yin Guo some breathing room. She pretended to grab a carton of ice cream and returned to her room, leaving the door slightly ajar. There was a deep red beanbag chair on the floor; she sank into it, scooping ice cream spoon by spoon while listening to the sounds outside through the crack in the door.
Lin Yiyang showered quickly. When he came out, Jiang Yang was still asking him what he wanted to eat.
He replied that he had already eaten and not to worry about him.
It sounded like he went back to his bedroom. At least, he was no longer part of the conversation outside.
Her phone suddenly lit up on her lap.
Lin: *What are you doing?*
Yin Guo set the ice cream carton by her feet and replied, holding her phone with both hands.
Xiao Guo: *Eating ice cream.*
Lin: *Meet me in the laundry room.*
The laundry room? Was he going to do laundry?
Xiao Guo: *Oh, okay. I happen to have some clothes to wash too.*
Lin: *You go first. I’ll be there in a bit.*
Xiao Guo: *OK.*
She tossed the empty ice cream carton into a trash bag, found a folded large paper bag from behind the door, and stuffed the clothes from her bed and sofa into it. Grabbing a handful of coins from her nightstand drawer, she carried the bag of dirty laundry through the living room with an air of feigned nonchalance and headed downstairs.
The laundry room was empty, though some clothes were tumbling in a dryer; the owner would likely be back soon.
She stuffed her laundry into an empty machine and inserted the coins.
Looking around, she chose the blue plastic long table in the center over the row of empty chairs against the wall. She pulled out a stool and sat down to wait for him. Before long, Lin Yiyang walked in, holding a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He was wearing the clean sportswear he’d just changed into, and his hair was still damp from being towel-dried. Aside from his smoking supplies, he had no bag and, naturally, no dirty laundry. He looked perfectly composed.
He tossed his things onto the plastic table and sat down beside Yin Guo.
In truth, he hadn't smoked in two years and didn't crave it. But to walk out so blatantly in front of that pack of wolves, he needed an excuse, so he had asked Wu Wei for these.
They sat at one corner of the table, one on the left and one on the right, positioned so they could talk while seeing each other's faces.
In the entire laundry room, only one washer and one dryer were running. The mechanical hum was neither too loud nor too soft, lending the space a cozy, lived-in atmosphere.
"Just now, Jiang Yang said he’s met you," he said.
"Yes. We met twice back home when he was playing matches against my brother."
"How has your brother been these years?" he asked.
"Pretty good," she replied. "A couple of years ago, he felt the old club's location wasn't great, so he opened a new one. My uncle retired and only kept a half-investment; he leaves all the big decisions to my brother—"
A burly middle-aged man walked in, talking fluently in Chinese on his phone. He pulled out a chair at the other end of the long plastic table and sat down to wait for his clothes to dry.
Because of the stranger's intrusion, Yin Guo stopped talking.
The laundry room soon took on a bizarre scene: Yin Guo began fiddling with her phone, Lin Yiyang started playing with the cigarette pack, and the man sat bored, his brown eyes staring blankly at the dryer.
Yin Guo’s mind drifted as she looked at the night sky outside the window and then at the washing machine. It would take at least an hour to wash and dry. They couldn't just sit here in silence for an hour, could they?
She saw Lin Yiyang pull his phone from his trouser pocket.
A few seconds later, a WeChat message from him appeared on her phone.
Lin: *Why aren't you talking?*
Yin Guo looked up and found him watching her.
She pursed her lips, smiling as she held her phone with both hands to reply.
Xiao Guo: *You aren't talking either.*
Lin: *I'm listening to you.*
Xiao Guo: *...I'm finished.*
Lin Yiyang cleared his throat. Yin Guo thought he was about to speak, but instead, another message arrived.
Lin: *I don't know what you want to hear.*
Xiao Guo: *Just anything... It's just friends chatting. You're being so serious, it's making me nervous.*
After sending it, Yin Guo coughed; her throat felt a bit itchy.
She had the illusion of being back in high school, not daring to speak to the person in the seat behind her during class, instead passing notes filled with meaningless nonsense. But back then, the person behind her was a girl. Now, the person beside her was a man.
The middle-aged man yawned and glanced at the "young couple" at the other end of the table, wondering if they were having a cold war. Each was holding a phone, minding their own business.
Coincidentally, the drying cycle ended. The man’s clothes were done. He pulled them all out, piled them onto the long table, and began folding them one by one right in front of them.
Lin Yiyang shifted his posture, leaning diagonally against the edge of the table. He picked up the lighter and toyed with it in his palm.
Yin Guo rested her chin on one hand, still going back and forth with him.
Xiao Guo: *I give up. Can we talk now?*
Lin: *We've played the part of mutes this long; might as well keep it up.*
True. If they suddenly started talking now, it would probably startle the man and make things very awkward for him. Better to keep pretending. It looked like the man was almost done folding his clothes anyway.
She continued typing.
Xiao Guo: *Should we go back up? We still have an hour to wait, and there's nothing to do here.*
Lin: *Too many people upstairs. It's not convenient to talk.*
Xiao Guo: *You aren't talking here either. It's the same.*
Lin: *:)*
Lin: *Let me ask you a question.*
Xiao Guo: *Go ahead.*
She waited for a moment, but nothing followed.
Yin Guo looked up in confusion. Lin Yiyang happened to be looking at her. She made a "puzzled" face, and the corner of Lin Yiyang’s mouth curled up slightly. He tapped the phone screen in front of him with his index finger, meaning: *Look at your phone.*
*What kind of question is so mysterious?*
She pursed her lips and smiled. Amidst the light of the laundry room, the hum of the machines, and the 90s rock song the burly man was humming, she lowered her eyes.
In the chat box, a sentence appeared next to Lin Yiyang’s avatar—
Lin: *Do you have a boyfriend?*
Her finger hovered there...
Lin: *Or rather.*
Lin: *Can you tell that I want to pursue you?*
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
顿挫 | Duncuo | Lin Yiyang's online handle/nickname.
小扬爷 | Master Yang | A respectful/familiar title for Lin Yiyang within the club.
东新城 | Dongxincheng | The name of the billiards club/society.
陈安安 | Chen An'an | A senior member/coach from Dongxincheng.
范文匆 | Fan Wencong | A member of the Dongxincheng club.
九球 | Nine-ball | A discipline of pool.
斯诺克 | Snooker | A discipline of cue sports.
